The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Pfizer Inc's second biosimilar to Johnson & Johnson's blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug, Remicade, the company said on Wednesday. Pfizer's Ixifi was approved for all eligible indications of Remicade, including the treatment of bowel disease Crohn's disease and skin disorder plaque psoriasis, the drugmaker said. With the approval, Ixifi joins the ranks of other biosimilars that have claimed market share from Remicade, including Pfizer and Celltrion Inc's Inflectra launched in late 2016, and Renflexis, made by Merck & Co and South Korea's Samsung Bioepis Co Ltd.

Roche recently sued Pfizer to block the latter’s biosimilar (generic version) for Herceptin- a cancer biologic that earned $2.5 billion in sales in the U.S. for Roche in 2016. The fight is unlikely to stop there for Roche, as it has a lot more at stake.

Spark Therapeutics shares have plunged today, falling $27, or 37%, to $44.03 after the gene-therapy company released disappointing results for its treatment for hemophilia A at the American Society of Hematology’s annual meeting in Atlanta. The data on four patients in a phase 1/2 clinical trial showed some variability in the expression of Factor VIII, the clotting protein either missing or existing at very low levels in hemophilia A patients. It appears that Spark (ONCE) has lost the lead in developing a hemophilia A treatment to BioMarin Pharmaceutical (BMRN), a much larger biotechnology company that reported consistent levels of Factor VIII expression at the ASH conference in a phase 1/2 trial for its gene-therapy treatment.

Today, the generic drug giant announced the exclusive launch of its generic Viagra (sildenafil citrate) tablets in the U.S. Viagra (generic name sildenafil) is a drug used in the treatment of erectile dysfunction, also known as impotence. Introduced by Pfizer Inc. in March 1998, Viagra has generated about $1.4 billion in the U.S., according to IMS data as of August 2017.

Shares of Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. rose 0.4% in morning trade Monday, after the drug maker announced the exclusive launch of its generic Viagra tablets in the U.S. The company said it will offer ...